Detection of Conduit-Controlled Ground-Water Flow in Northwestern Puerto Rico Using Aerial Photograph Interpretation and Geophysical Methods.

摘要

The development potential of ground-water resources in the karst limestone of northwestern Puerto Rico, in an area extending from Rio Camuy to Aguidilla, is uncertain as a result of limited knowledge of the location of areas where a high density of cavities (interconnected fractures, conduits, and other dissolution features) might suggest the occurrence of high water yields. The presence in northwestern Puerto Rico of numerous coastal submarine springs, cavernous porosity in some of the wells, and rivers with entrenched and underground paths, indicate that it is probable that water-bearing, subterranean interconnected cavities occur in the area between the Rio Camuy and Aguadilla. The number of exploratory needed to determine the location of these conduits or zones of enhanced secondary porosity could be substantially reduced if more information were available about the location of these subterranean features, greatly reducing the drilling costs associated with a trial-and-error exploratory process.